Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
Dear all,
I'm new to this forum, so I'm going to introduce myself briefly before I get to my question.
I'm 41 and have suffered from generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder for as long as I can remember. Given this, I tend to worry to the point of making myself sick over big and small things.
Last Friday I was awakened by a vertigo attack. It's the first time it has ever happened. It lasted about a minute, but it scared me so much I thought I was dying. I called my husband in a panic and told him to call an ambulance. The room was spinning around me and at the same time I felt I was being sucked into a hole. I held onto the bed until it passed. Since then I have been having buzzing in both ears, in addition to the usual tinnitus I've had for many years. My ears also hurt on and off, and I have some visual disturbances, like objects getting bigger then smaller.
My worry is that my eldest sister was diagnosed with Meniere's disease two years ago. It's a terrible condition to have because vertigo attacks can happen out of the blue and last for hours to days. I'm very upset because I don't want to imagine this is what could be happening to me.
Does anybody have any thoughts on this, or has experienced vertigo?
Thank you for reading. Any answers will be deeply appreciated.
I'm new to this forum, so I'm going to introduce myself briefly before I get to my question.
I'm 41 and have suffered from generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and social anxiety disorder for as long as I can remember. Given this, I tend to worry to the point of making myself sick over big and small things.
Last Friday I was awakened by a vertigo attack. It's the first time it has ever happened. It lasted about a minute, but it scared me so much I thought I was dying. I called my husband in a panic and told him to call an ambulance. The room was spinning around me and at the same time I felt I was being sucked into a hole. I held onto the bed until it passed. Since then I have been having buzzing in both ears, in addition to the usual tinnitus I've had for many years. My ears also hurt on and off, and I have some visual disturbances, like objects getting bigger then smaller.
My worry is that my eldest sister was diagnosed with Meniere's disease two years ago. It's a terrible condition to have because vertigo attacks can happen out of the blue and last for hours to days. I'm very upset because I don't want to imagine this is what could be happening to me.
Does anybody have any thoughts on this, or has experienced vertigo?
Thank you for reading. Any answers will be deeply appreciated.
Hypergal you're right, ear problems can give you anxiety and panic, and that's the last thing I need because I'm trying to get better from my usual anxiety and panic! It's like adding more to the pile of unpleasant things in my life, but exponentially. This is why I really want this to be an ear infection and not Meniere's. I wouldn't really mind the vertigo, but I WOULD mind the accompanying anxiety.
Thank you both Velaneg and Hypergal for taking the time to answer my question :)
I know how awful those vertigo attacks are and I had a bout of 3 months, yep, that is right. During those three months I crawled on the floor like a little child because I was so dizzy that I could not stand up.
The terror of the room spinning for so long just about drove me insane.
I could not do anything, no work, no driving, nothing. I found out that it was from a prior ear infection and since then have learned a lot.
A doctor, a so called specialist put me on powerful meds after I landed in the hospital via ambulance with my first bout: terrible nausea, you could not imagine how embarrassing it was to call 911 and to present myself in that nauseated and totally sweating sickening way to a police officer. Even though I was very sick I was also very embarrassed about my physical state even though there was nothing I could have done about it.
Well, long story short: the meds prescribed were awful: did not help the virtigo at all but gave me strong side effects. I stopped seeing that doc and wrote him a nasty letter: he was a doctor aka doctor for Michael Jackson.
Since then I have found a few things that prevent ear infections: allegra I tolerate well and when I know that I am getting really stuffy and can not drain and the biggie when my ears hurt I have to resort to allegra.
But there are natural supplements that help too: echinacea in pill or tea form. And when my ears hurt I often use tea tree oil in the ear, or even better colloidal silver.
What has had amazing effects is a simple small massager tool that I use to massage right behind my ear which helps to drain those little passages almost immediately.
They have ear massage videos on U tube for ear infection patients.
Needless to say : never have I been sick like that again. Sometimes I get a little tiny bit dizzy, but not to be impaired like I was before.
Hope this helps. But yes, it is absolutely terrifying to have a room spinning around you, made me feel so sick.
I'm just back from the GP who told me I might have an ear infection given my symptoms. She also looked inside the right ear and told me it's swollen. Now I have antibiotics and painkillers if needed. Thank God I haven't had another episode so to minimize the risk I'll go ahead and buy the colloidal silver you recommend, and will also have a look at the Youtube videos. Anything to avoid the spinning again. Oh, I hope I can find Allegra here on this side of the pond.
I completely know where you're coming from about feeling embarrased, as if we had to apologize. I've been there.
Three months of spinning! I've been reading about Meniere's and I've learnt that there are two things the body will never get adjusted to: loud noises and vertigo. This is why every time a vertigo attack happens a person panics. How lovely!
I hope you never get such episodes again, and take care.
Whether reading about Meniere's or eustachian tube dysfunction the number one recommendation from sufferers is to avoid stress as much as possible because it worsens the symptoms.
Thank you for your advice and for caring :)